The invention relates generally to trenching machines and, more specifically, to a trenching machine having a trenching bar mounted for sliding transverse movement at the rear end portion of the trenching machine and including a plurality of conveyors for transporting spoil from the trenching bar centrally, and upwardly and forwardly for deposit outside of the transverse confines or forwardly of the trenching machine.
Trenching machines are widely used for creating narrow trenches in a variety of subsurface conditions and locations. A common use of such trenches is in the installation of service lines such as electrical cable, water pipes, sewer lines and the like. It is frequently desired or necessary to have the trenches run close to existing structures or objects such as buildings, roadways, and trees. For this purpose, offset trenching machines have been developed wherein the trenching bar is mounted for sliding movement at the rear end portion of the trenching machine to be operable for creating trenches at any desired location within the range of sliding movement of the trenching bar.
In the operation of such machines, as with all trenching machines, spoil is created which is either deposited at the trenching site for backfilling of the trench or other purposes, or loaded onto a truck or similar device for transport to a remote location. Because an offset trenching machine will create spoil that will ordinarily be deposited by the trenching bar at any location within the range of transverse movement of the trenching bar, a conveying system is required that can accommodate the range of positions of the trenching bar. Moreover, it is desired that the conveying system be adaptable to convey and deposit the spoil in a variety of locations to increase the effective use of the offset trenching machine in proximity to buildings and other objects as described above.